Like a Wolf
by LostinOblivion
Summary: Mulder gets himself in trouble, and Scully has to ride to the rescue. Halloween Story. MSR.


_Okay, I've been meaning to write this one for a while. It was inspired by the fake XF-2 publicity photo of David Duchovny in werewolf make-up. I love that they were so aggressive about keeping the plot of the film a secret, and was fascinated by the suggestion. My brain immediately started shouting, 'Ooh! Ooh! Mulder as a werewolf!!', and this story came about. _

_The moon wasn't full on Halloween this year, but I took a little creative license. My werewolves are also not the traditional variety, the method of transformation is my own, but based loosely on research. And the title is from the 80's Duran Duran song, 'Hungry Like a Wolf'.  
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_That's all and I hope you enjoy the story!_

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_Halloween 1998 _

Only Fox Mulder.

Scully negotiated delicately over a large moss-covered log, thankful she was wearing hiking boots and not heels for a change. The beam from her flashlight bounced irratically around the dense, black forest, creating ominous shadows of the areas she couldn't see. The trees were so dense here, even without leaves, they blocked out most of the light from the nearly full moon. There was a mix of maples, oaks and poplar, with evergreens like pine and spruce, the leaves from the former crunching beneath her feet.

Oh yes, only Fox Mulder would have her trudging through a forest in Nowhere Western PA, at two in the morning on fucking Halloween. All so she could save him from an eternity as a werewolf. Because only Mulder would go to Podunk, PA to have tea with an eighty year-old woman and listen to stories of men disappearing beneath full moons, and wolves howling in the night. And, only Mulder would manage to find the one little old lady that liked to drug the tea of nice young men, and use dirty knives in ceremonial slicing to turn these young men into werewolves.

All Scully had wanted was for him to join her in passing out candy to little kids and watching horror movies with kettle corn and pizza. But, the dumbass couldn't answer his phone, because some crazy old bat was shoving a knife into his shoulder while he laid passed out on her kitchen table. This forced her to hassle the Gunmen until they traced his phone, and led to her schlepping out to Dullsville, PA to find, and presumably, save his sorry ass. Which, eventually led her to the old lady's house, and her first time pointing a gun at a woman who could have been her granny.

Only fucking Mulder.

His badge, his gun, his phone, his clothes, all in the woman's house, and his sedan was hidden out back. Scully wasn't sure which threat worked, a bullet or jail time, but either way, the old lady caved, and grudgingly explained that she'd drugged him with belladonna and that Mulder was now a beautiful white and gray wolf.

It was insane. She didn't question that for a moment. Scully told the woman as much, to which her only response was to point out the window. A wolf--white and gray--just as the woman had described, stood outside, watching them. Scully was all set to tell the woman it was just a wolf when she saw his eyes. Hazel, heavily tinged with a greenish gold, just like Mulder's eyes when he was afraid. Really afraid. That's when the gold really came out in them.

Those were the eyes she'd seen when she lay dying in the hospital, when she told him that she was leaving to be a doctor, when she was zoned out and firing at Donnie Pfaster, and more rarely when his own life was in danger. She had known those eyes, and that had scared the hell out of her.

Scully knew that she and Mulder shared a not-entirely-healthy codependence, and while this might ordinarily concern her, she'd learned to live with it and use it's infrequent advantages. Tonight, she'd used one of those advantages when she let the very real borderline-crazy desperation to save her partner slide into her eyes, while holding her gun on the old woman and demanding the cure. Apparently, crazy knows crazy, and the miserable old hag readily gave her a little pouch of herbs and ash and instructions.

Apparently, it wasn't actually the full moon tonight, that was officially tomorrow. She had until tomorrow night before the sun set, to track his sorry ass down, or he'd spend the rest of his days as a wolf. As it was, the sunrise would leave a buck-naked human Mulder stumbling lost in the woods. Scully was hoping to spare them both having to explain a public indecency charge to Skinner. Not that she would really mind seeing Mulder in his full glory.

Now was just not the time.

So, she called Skinner to beg for back up, left the crazy woman handcuffed in her home, and headed out into the woods in search of a wolf with familiar human eyes. So far, not so good.

Scully peered into the darkness that was barely pierced by her pathetic flashlight beam, hoping for any signs of white or gray fur. There were none. She stood panting, trying to catch her breath, one hand one the stitch in her back, and a colorful stream of curses running through her head. She leaned against a tree, the rough bark irritating her palm, already sore from scraping against a stone from a fall.

"Mulder!" She screamed into the forest, unsure if he'd understand human speech or even recognize his name. "Mulder!"

"Mulder! Mulder, please come here! Please..." Scully trailed off, completely exhausted. She swept the darkness again, and located a thick half-rotten log, which she shuffled over to, and plopped down lacking any definition of grace.

A deep, spine chilling howl cause her to jump and nearly topple back off the log. Wide-eyed, Scully searched the dark, her flashlight beam darting to and fro with her tense, jerky motions.

Then there he was. Not far from her, and as breath-taking as a wolf as he was as a man. A deep silver gray coated his back, and around his eyes and the top of his muzzle. The lower parts of his legs, his chest and belly were all a blazing snow white. His eyes were greener now, and staring straight at her, until he shot straight at her. The animal was all lean muscle, just like the human he'd been, and that muscle was coming at her faster than she could think of what to do.

He stopped. Suddenly, and less than two feet from her. Scully sighed with relief, breathing again. "Mulder?" She asked.

The wolf walked toward her, much slower now, sniffing and panting, and she could see he was favoring his right front leg. She knew then that the old woman had cut into his right shoulder. Scully slid from the log to sit on the forest floor, one hand out toward him. With his nose close enough to touch her, he seemed to decide he liked what he was smelling, and climbed half into her lap, licking her face like a dog. He nuzzled against her shoulder and neck, a happy little whimper coming from his mouth. In his excitement to see her, his long wet tongue hit the inside of her ear, causing Scully so squeal in surprise.

"Mulder!" He backed up, his gentle puppy eyes stating his apology with more success than his mouth ever could have. Scully's dropped the hands that had found their way to her hips, and rather than scold him, she chose to make a joke. "It took you turning into a dog to finally make a move?"

He cocked his head to the side as if he didn't understand. Or maybe, he just didn't like being called a dog. A wolf was a far more regal animal than a domestic dog. Not that the nuzzling, licking and puppy eyes were terribly regal. Scully sighed to herself, and snagged the bag she'd dropped. She dug through it, simultaneously waving Mulder back over.

"Alright Mulder, I don't know if you can understand me, but that crazy old woman told me how to fix you, so I need you to trust me, okay?"

Again his head dropped to the side, a question she couldn't read in his all too familiar eyes. Scully ran a hand over the course fur of his muzzle, between his eyes, and over his head, scratching behind his ears. He seemed to enjoy it, his head going back, and eyes closing in pleasure. She couldn't help but smile at him. She withdrew a needle from the bag, one she kept in the doctor's kit in her bag--a local painkiller typically reserved for humans. Seven years partnered with Mulder, and she learned to come prepared.

She positioned the needle behind his shoulder, and pierced his skin, plunging the needle as Mulder released a high-pitched whine and began to wiggle away, his jaws snapping at her.

"Easy," she called to him, her hand stroking his head again. "Easy now, I'm going to help you." He whimpered as the drug started to take affect, and whined at her, his puppy eyes nearly breaking her heart.

Scully simply stroked his head and whispered to him softly, as she felt along his shoulder, feeling the lump she would need to extract. It was too warm, probably infected. With him lying in her lap, Scully pulled the herb pack, iodine, a scalpel and gauze from her bag. She was nervous, scared even, how the hell did she operate on a wolf? Would he even stay still? What if he tried to bite her?

Rather than go right into it, Scully continued stroking him, trying to relax him into bonelessness. Mulder didn't resist, rather his wet snout nudged her when she briefly stopped. She stroked along his head, his neck, down to his chest, and his taut wolf belly, as he released a canine groan of pleasure. Scully considered for a few seconds that she was getting more intimate with wolf-Mulder than she'd ever got with the man. It made her a kind of sad.

No, not kind of. It was downright depressing.

After several minutes of his eyes closed, Scully doused a piece of gauze with iodine, and used it to wipe the scalpel blade. She would have wiped the area she was cutting into, but there was just too much fur for it to make a difference. She made a mental note to add a razor to her emergency 'save Mulder's ass' kit.

She'd made only the smallest incision when Mulder leapt up, squealing like a kicked puppy, and jumping into hysterics. Fighting his way off her lap, his claws cutting through the soft flesh of her belly as easily as a heated knife through butter. Scully screamed, grabbing her bleeding stomach, and scaring the surprisingly skittish Mulder. He crouched low the ground away from her, his tail wrapped around his body, and his head bent, eyes apologetic and frightened.

Apparently, the local wasn't strong enough for super werewolf-Mulder. Scully glanced at him, grimacing in pain, and noted his eyes were fixed on her, and his breathing labored. She watched his nostrils flare as he inhaled the air, smelling the blood from her wound, something disturbingly like rapture in his eyes.

Mulder's mind was already turning doggy. With a start, Scully realized that Mulder might actually eat her.

"Mulder...you don't want to hurt me. I know you, and I don't believe you even could purposely hurt me. You are a person, Mulder. I need you to remember that. You are a person, and you are my friend. You don't want to hurt me."

Mulder licked his chops, and suddenly looked away, his seeming-trance broken. Scully sighed in relief; if Mulder ate her, and Skinner had managed to turn him back into a human, and then told him that he'd eaten her...Well, Mulder would not handle that news well. She was pretty sure the end result would include him eating a bullet from his gun. After a lot of vomiting.

She lifted up her shirt, wiped the blood away, and studied the nasty claw marks. Not deep enough to do a whole lot of damage, but each three or four inches long were still plenty ugly. Mulder whimpered, guilt already swimming through his now almost-amber eyes.

"You didn't mean to hurt me, Mulder. I know that, and so do you. Don't worry, it isn't as bad as it looks." And she meant it. She cleaned the cuts with iodine, and taped gauze across her stomach, before allowing her shirt to drop back into place.

She looked at him then. "Your turn."

Mulder didn't move or give any indication that he was going to cooperate.

"Mulder," Scully began patiently, "I have seen you be incredibly brave, even to the point of carelessness, I know that you can bury your fears and plow ahead if someone is in danger. Right now though, I need you to think of yourself, grow a pair, and get over here so I can make you human again."

He took on a look of surprise, before rising to his feet and ambling over to her, head toward the ground, apparently embarrassed. She motioned him back into her lap, relieved when he complied, and cleaned her scalpel once again.

This time when Scully pierced his skin, Mulder only whimpered pathetically, his legs twitching with his desire to run, but remaining otherwise still. It was a large hole she had to cut, and Scully hoped it wouldn't scar too badly, but realistically, she knew it would be ugly. The hole revealed the herbs wrapped around a canine from a wolf's jaw. She was going to have to dig a little to get it out though.

"Mulder, this is going to hurt, but I need you to be still. The quicker I get this out, the quicker you become human again." His only response was another whimper.

Scully gritted her teeth, and began to insert the scalpel around the tooth, trying to get under it. Mulder let out a howl that went right through her ears into her bones, causing an involuntary shiver. "Jesus, Mulder."

As she continued to dig, Mulder remained still, howling instead, unnerving the hell out of his partner. She was as relieved as him when it was finally over. His howling returned to a whimper as she used a generous amount of iodine on the open would, and placed the herb-ash mixture inside. She dug in her back for a needle and surgical thread, and after disinfecting it, began to sew his shoulder back together.

Finally finished, she grabbed a wool blanket from the bag, and instructed Mulder to stand, before spread it partially over her lap. His limp was even worse now, pain radiating out of his soft puppy eyes. Scully instructed him to lay back down, and folded the rest of the blanket over him. She held him to her, hoping to prevent shock, and began the wait for the cavalry to arrive.

Mulder licked her hand in thanks. Scully began to pet him in return, hoping to sooth him into sleep. She wondered how, if this didn't work, she was supposed to explain a pet wolf to her landlord. She knew she couldn't leave him out here all alone.

Scully didn't realize when she fell asleep, her arms clutching her furry partner protectively. She didn't wake up until Mulder began to shake in her lap an hour later. She opened her eyes to find he'd thrown the blanket off, and was shivering, now very human. He was also as naked as a newborn baby. Scully quickly covered him, startling as him as he moaned her name.

"I'm here, Mulder. You're okay now, back-up should be here very soon." It was still dark, but she could sense sunrise was only minutes away.

She took the opportunity to study his human features with relief flowing hot through her blood. Scully laid a hand gently on his cheek, caressing the bare skin up along his face, weaving his fingers through his soft brown hair. Human--completely, blissfully, and terribly exposed in his bare flesh. She pulled him tighter to her, running her hands the length of the blanket, trying to warm him up. Meanwhile, she felt like a furnace was working inside of her, and her gut was clenching painfully, just below the skin he'd torn open. They would both need antibiotics as soon as possible.

She turned to the sounds of people crashing through the woods, but couldn't yet see them. Feeling her emotions well up in her eyes, Scully let her head fall against Mulder's, her body turning almost rag doll with relief. It was another few minutes, longer than expected, until she saw their rescuers--Skinner's bald head reflected the flashlight beams like a beacon.

"Over here!" Scully hollered, her voice hoarse and weak, her energy all but gone. She was struck by a sudden strong whiff of spruce and sweat, then her eyes closed in a dead faint.

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_Late Afternoon  
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"Scu-Scully?" She was beside him in seconds, holding his hand, and watching him blink his eyes open. He groaned.

"Take it easy, Mulder. You're on antibiotics, a saline drip, and morphine--your usual hospital cocktail."

"You're okay?" He asked.

"A little sore, but it will pass." The truth was, her heart rate was unusually fast, had been since she'd woken up.

"I'm sorry, Scully. I didn't mean to--"

"I don't want to hear it, Mulder. I'm not upset with you, and I don't blame you. But, I have decided that you are taking back up with you everywhere but the bathroom from now until we're dead."

"Does that include bed, cause if you're volunteering, Scully..."

She just smiled, ignoring his innuendo, as usual.

"Scully, I...what if..." Mulder struggled with whatever he needed to say, squeezing her hand. "I hurt you while I was changed, it could have spread like an infection."

"I don't think so, Mulder. That's modern horror stories. I feel fi--good. I feel good."

He responded with a tight smile. "So, when do I get out of here?"

"If your shoulder shows no signs of infection, tomorrow. I have to tell you, Mulder, the ER doctor was not impressed with my treatment, I think he was contemplating a psych consult for me."

Mulder's eyebrows rose. "Well, that doctor can kiss my ass--I assume you didn't tell him much of why you performed surgery in the middle of the forest?"

She looked at him silently, telling him with just her eyes that she wasn't ready to go there. Last night had been traumatic enough without her taking the time to actually think about it in depth.

He squeezed her hand. "Where are we anyway? PA?"

"No, D.C. Skinner had us both Med-Evac'd after they got us out of the woods, that town didn't have hospital facilities anyway."

Mulder bit his lip. "I'm sorry, Scully. I really didn't expect this to turn out this way, she was a sweet little old lady. Even I'm not paranoid enough to believe she'd drug my tea."

"It's okay, Mulder. You're okay, I'm okay, that's all that matters. Now, it's time to stop talking, you need to get some rest and get better, so you can figure out how we explain this to Skinner."

He chuckled, but nodded, and allowed her to pull the sheets further up over his body. Scully moved to check his monitors and shut off the light above the bed, moving to her side. She leaned down, and pressed a kiss to his forehead, startled when his scent seemed to assail her senses. She drew back, and studied him, his eyes closed and oblivious to her plight.

His scent was unmistakable. It belonged to Mulder alone, and it was intoxicating to her. It was the smell of her friend, her companion, her comfort when she was alone, and she realized, a smile curling her lips, it was the smell of her mate. Something decidedly not human settled in Scully's piercing blue eyes as she studied him. She ran her tongue along her teeth, freezing at the small shock of pain and the coppery taste that followed it. The canines, they shouldn't have come until the moon was in the sky, but something else had triggered the change--the sheer rapture of that scent.

Scully leaned over her prone partner, her face close enough that tiny hairs on the uninjured side of his neck fluttered under her breath. She pressed a kiss to his bare skin, pulling the gown down to expose his collarbone. Mulder stirred as her lips traveled down his throat to that exposed bone, his eyes widening.

"Scully?"

She didn't answer, but let her new, slightly awkward doggy teeth penetrate his lightly tanned flesh.

Mulder shrieked, but only for a moment.

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_September 2002_

A muscular gray and white wolf peered out from the mouth of a cave, studying deep bluish-gray of dusk. A look behind his shoulder, and a smaller, pure white wolf appeared at his shoulder, her ocean blue eyes searching for any sign of predators. The male wolf nuzzled against her, his nose softly brushing her ear. With a flick, her tongue hit his nose, and she gave him a look that seemed to say this was no time for PDA.

She glanced back into the cave then, and shouted a quick yip. Four fuzzy little bodies tumbled out, all clumsy legs, and excited yipping. They stumbled over each other and nipped at each others ears, noses, and tails. Their mother yipped again, halting their games, while the male wolf looked on his brood indulgently, as if considering joining in the fun. The pups lined up eagerly in front of their parents, two gray and white, one pure white, and one pure black.

Mother and father looked at each other, and began a slow trot to the woods. Their pups hurried after them, eager for the first hunting trip with their parents.

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_Okay, it is technically a happy ending, so you can't hate me. And, I felt it was appropriate that Mulder and Scully go out as an X File. I hope you enjoyed the story, reviews are always greatly appreciated, and lastly: _

_Happy Halloween! Happy Samhain!_


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